Echoes of an Intercom
by DarkRiku14
Summary: AkuRoku. Roxas drifts through highschool, still trying to hold onto his grades as his mind focuses on other things, including one person. But will he end up humiliating himself? M For language. Sokai and Namiku on the side for no significant reason.


I probably would've never written anything sappy and yaoi-ish like this, but my friend dared me XD. And I'm someone who likes challenges.

And this was one hell of a challenge. It was originally going to be a one-shot, but it was getting a little too long, so its going to be a short fic. I'm thinking about 3 or 4 chapters, tops.

I had to do way too much thinking with this thing too .

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Squenix and Disney, yada yada yaaaaaada.

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_-Echoes of an Intercom-_

Chapter 1: I Love Life, I Hate Life

The school bell rang loudly in Roxas' ears, jerking him out of his daydreams and back to reality. That had to be the fifty-millionth time he'd zoned out in History class this year.

And the school year had only started two weeks ago.

With a sigh, Roxas began shoving his books into his backpack, preparing to head to his next class. But he stopped when his azure eyes fell upon the notebook in which he had doodled on during his dreaming.

All over the white-lined-paper was a name, and one name only, repeated in multiple different ways. Some were in cursive, some in box-like letters, others surrounded by tattoo-esque designs, while others were by themselves, shining in their graphite simplicity. It was the perfect reflection of Roxas' obsession for those first few weeks of school.

That one person. That one person whom Roxas had been meaning to confess his_ feelings_ to for the past two years.

But every time he tried, something got in the way before he could even come close to revealing said feelings to that one person.

And as if his luck couldn't get any worse, Roxas' affection was focused on the most popular person in the whole damn school.

The only person that everyone, _literally_ everyone, in the school respected and admired.

And his name was Axel.

Just thinking about him made the hairs on the back of Roxas' neck stand on end. His stomach knotted in anxiety, but it was gone once he took a deep breath. But that didn't stop a picture of _him_ finding its way into Roxas' mind's eye. With flaming red hair that spiked up like a porcupine's back and then came down around his shoulders, Axel was one that stood out in the crowd. He was rather thin and pale; it seemed his red hair and contrasting green eyes had taken all the color his body could come up with. He also had little diamond tattoos on his cheeks, that almost seemed to point up to his unusually bright eyes. He was definately different, but no one cared. Everybody still would get on the ground and kiss his feet if he asked. He was just the epitome of cool. He took everything in stride, twisting it to his benefit, no matter how bad it seemed.

That was just the way Axel was.

But Roxas couldn't think about Axel. Not during class, at least.

After all, he still wanted to keep his grades up. But not in History. Roxas could tell he was already failing History. There was no point in caring about _that_ particular class.

Yet again, Roxas was thrown out of his daydreams by the unceasing pushing and shoving of teenagers moving this way and that to different classes. Roxas sighed. He should be used to this living ocean of humanity by now.

But, he wasn't.

He felt very flustered with the physical contact from practically every direction. It was unnerving to him. It's not like he was claustrophobic or anything. Actually, he preferred small spaces. Sometimes, he'd lock himself in his closet, just to have somewhere to be that was calm. Within a minute, he almost found himself on his bottom as a taller boy shoved into him from the left. Roxas yelped and tripped over the hem of his pants. He really did need to get them fixed. They were _always_ tripping him.

Thankfully, a hand caught his elbow, catching him before he was on the ground and being trampled by numerous, uncaring feet. A voice reached his ears over the routine chaos of school life.

"Sorry Roxas. Have you seen Sora? He's not at his locker."

The arm pulled Roxas back to his feet, and guided him to the walls, where the pandemonium was minimized.

But not by much.

Roxas looked up to find himself looking at the taller boy who shoved him. The same teen that had caught him. Silver hair that fell to thin shoulders framed the boy's face, and a black backpack hung carelessly off one shoulder. Blue-green eyes gazed at Roxas' frazzled look amusedly. A smirk pulled at his lips, as he waited for some sort of response.

"Hey Riku. What'd you say?" Roxas brushed his pants, trying to pick up the small pieces of his dignity that were left.

Riku chuckled before continuing. "I said, have you seen Sora? He said he'd be by his locker before lunch. But as usual, he's not."

The blonde responded by shrugging. When Riku crossed his arms, Roxas articulated an answer. "I could barely see my own hands in that crowd, let alone someone else."

"It's not like Sora's that hard to spot but what-"

"Riku! Roxas!" A voice called rather loudly through the halls, interrupting Riku. And before Roxas could even blink, a brunette boy about the same height as himself lunged out of the crowd, almost smashing into Riku with the effort. His hair spiked out in a multiple directions, defying all laws of gravity (and it really pissed off his science teacher), and a black and yellow knapsack with multiple zippers and buckles was strapped onto his back.

"We were just looking for you." Roxas stated blandly.

"Sorry. Professor Leonhart kept me after class. He said the book I chose for English wasn't my 'reading level'." As if their minds thought of the same thing in unison, the three walked along the walls of lockers, heading for the haven that was the lunch room.

"Do I want to know what book you chose _this_ time, Sora?" Riku asked with a wry grin.

"Hey, hey, hey! It was Harry Potter mind you!" Sora spat, and he pouted, his brows furrowing in anger that didn't seem as intimidating as he probably meant it to be. "Really, what's wrong with that?" he added with equal frustration.

"Sora. Everyone has read that book. You can just see the movie, duh. Professor Leonhart is a hardass when it comes to outside reading books, too." Roxas rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah…"

"Roxas knows this because he stares at the Professor's ass, too." Riku interjected.

"Excuse me?" Roxas practically shouted.

"Oh nothing." A rather unconvincing look of innocence made its way onto the taller boy's face.

"That reminds me! Did you ask-" Sora looked left and right, to make sure no one was listening. Once satisfied, he leaned closer to Roxas. "Did you tell Axel yet? About…y'know?" he asked, his deep blue eyes wide with anticipation.

"What do you think?" The blonde snapped, still sore about the fact that his goal had yet to be accomplished.

"That's a no Sora." Riku translated, for Sora looked like he was actually contemplating the question.

"Oh. Damn, you suck at this, Roxas." The brunette concluded. "How long have you been staring at that guy? Years now?"

"Shut the fuck up, Sora. Didn't Kairi ask you out first because every time you thought of asking her, you'd reach the point of fainting?" Roxas hissed. Blackmail was indeed a lovely thing.

An interesting shade of pink painted Sora's cheeks, and he scratched the back of his head with a gloved hand. "Uhhh…..heh…."

"Yes, yes she did. Even though _we're_ the ones who are supposed to ask." Riku said rather bluntly.

"So Naminé asked first?" Roxas inquired with a smirk, noticing the _we_ in Riku's sentence. The silver haired teen immediately looked up at the ceiling, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Roxas could've sworn that oh so interesting shade of pink came into Riku's pale face as well.

Apparently, he was avoiding the question, for he didn't answer. But said answer was blatantly obvious anyhow.

"Thought so." Roxas concluded with a derisive snort, and he crossed his arms over his chest. "It's harder than you think, you know. It's like; I can't just go up and say: 'Hi Axel! My name is Roxas and I think you have a nice ass! Want to go out some time?'" Roxas' voice flew up a few octaves with the last statement, and it caused Riku's eyes to fly back down from the ceiling with a look of sheer amusement.

Roxas was surprised the taller boy didn't burst out laughing then and there.

"He has a nice ass?" Sora questioned, and stared into space, wondering if this was indeed true. Riku's shoulders were shaking; he was clearly trying to fight off the urge to laugh hysterically.

It looked like he was rather close to losing.

The blonde on the other hand, wasn't as amused. His cerulean eyes narrowed dangerously, shooting daggers at poor Sora. The brunette grinned his trademark grin, and the three were quiet.

"Maybe I should ask Selphie or something. She seems like she would know a thing or two about that stuff." Roxas contemplated out loud a moment later, breaking the silence.

"Are you insane?" Both Sora and Riku cried out in unison. People were beginning to stare as the three walked by. Roxas opened his mouth to defend himself, but Sora quickly continued. "Dude, Selphie falls head over heels for any guy in leather pants that walks by. Except Tidus. Though, his pants are technically pleather…BUT! You'd be better off doing it yourself." Riku gave Sora a puzzled look and stopped walking. Sora staggered a bit, then looked over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. The third teen however, kept walking, lost in his own thoughts yet again.

"How would _you_ know what fabric Tidus' pants are made of…?"

"Uh…long story there."

"… I don't want to – Hey, where'd Roxas go?"

The two boys looked around, and then looked down at the small set of stairs that led down to the cafeteria. They could already see innumerous students bustling back and forth with either bought lunches or bagged lunches, searching for friends to sit with. Riku's eyes were scanning the crowd for Roxas, while Sora was too busy staring at Kairi, who was sitting at a circular table in the corner, chatting merrily with a bunch of other girls Sora recognized from different places.

He always did like seeing Kairi laugh. It made his stomach flutter about like a baby bird learning how to fly. She always seemed so happy. And when she was happy, he was happy. He was ecstatic when he learned she felt the same way about him.

So while he was busy ogling at Kairi, he failed to see Roxas.

And by the time Riku saw Roxas, there was no way to stop him from making the first big mistake of the day.

The blonde teen was walking down the stairs, nearing the bottom. You'd think that's normal huh? Well, he was staring at his feet. Not to mention his pace was rather quick. In other words, he had no idea where he was walking to.

Or in better terms, _who_ he was walking to.

"Roxas!" Riku called in a vain attempt to halt the inattentive boy, but it was too late.

Roxas already found himself bumping rather roughly into someone's back. That someone staggered forward, dropping a cell phone which they had held to their ear. Roxas snapped back to his senses as he fell backwards, his bag falling to the ground at his side. His History notebook slid out, its drawn on page turned upward for all the world to see.

The room fell silent, dreadfully silent.

Roxas stared straight ahead, at a pair of ankles in front of him. Feet clad in rather worn looking sneakers, flipped around to face him. Roxas' eyes slowly panned upward, up black jeans with multiple belt holes around the waist, past the worn looking burgundy t-shirt, and they froze once they reached the face.

His complexion lost all its color as it stared into jade eyes that looked down at him in confusion. Those piercing eyes glanced from Roxas on the ground, to the abandoned cell phone that still was on the floor, trying to figure out what happened. Noise buzzed from the phone, signaling that the person on the other line wasn't too happy about being "ignored". Then those emerald eyes fell upon Roxas' open backpack.

Roxas followed those eyes, and almost screamed in horror as he saw his notebook with the name of the person in front of him peeking out. With an almost spasmodic jerk of his body, he lunged out and pushed the notebook back into its cage that was his knapsack. Everyone in the cafeteria was staring. Staring at him with amused expressions, some in shock.

Their eyes were mocking him, laughing at him, daring him to spill his feelings right there and then.

Could life _possibly_ get any worse?

Apparently it could, when Axel spoke that is. He bent over, his face inches from Roxas'. The blonde wanted to shy away, stand up and apologize over and over until everyone ignored his existence again. But he couldn't move. Those jade eyes kept him in place, their scrutiny casting a spell upon him to keep him still.

Axel's eyebrow's furrowed slightly, as if he was concentrating really hard or something.

"Roxas, right?" the two words caused Roxas' heart to tremble. Axel _knew_ his name. Words could not form in his mind. Even if they could, they would probably come out of his mouth as gibberish.

So Roxas only nodded.

Axel smirked, like he was proud of himself since he remembered the name. He ran a hand through his vibrant red hair, and then tucked said hand loosely in a pocket in his jeans. He didn't seem bothered at all that he was within inches of Roxas' person. Not that anyone was surprised. (Save Roxas, of course) Everything Axel did was considered completely normal in a unique and abnormal way. It didn't make sense to anyone, but again, no one cared.

A tense silence dominated the large room, everyone watching, enthralled in what the ever unpredictable Axel would do next.

The deserted cell phone screamed quite loudly. A feminine voice shrieked every profanity Roxas had ever heard, and a few he hadn't. The moment of invaded personal space was over, as Axel leaned back and languidly picked up the cell phone.

"You don't need to be so loud, Larx." Those bright eyes of his never left Roxas as he spoke into the pencil thin phone, a smirk on his face.

The voice responded loudly. Loud enough for Roxas to hear. Loud enough for practically the entire cafeteria to hear. Surprisingly, Axel didn't seem too bothered by the angered cries of the girl on the other end of the phone. With a flick of his wrist, the cell phone was shut, no goodbyes said.

Roxas found his voice again, but the words came out rather fast and squished together in a way that was almost unintelligible. "I'm-really-sorry-Axel! I-didn't-see-you-there! I-I-I-" This fast paced speaking and stuttering caused Axel to raise one eyebrow, and a few stray giggles erupted from the crowd.

"Roxas!" A voice hissed. Roxas flipped around in the blink of an eye, and praised every God of every religion he could think of when he saw Sora and Riku in the front of the crowd, beckoning to him. He willed himself to run to them, to hide, curl into his internal pit of shame, and not come out for days. But his legs refused to move, and he stared back at Axel like a deer in the headlights. Sora whined, jumping up and down in place to get Roxas' attention again. It was proving unsuccessful.

Roxas was completely brain-dead. Axel, on the other hand, looked pretty amused, and he tilted his head slightly to the side, his spiky hair leaning with the angle. Roxas was wondering what Axel was so fascinated at. Why didn't he just leave? Why would he bother with a nobody like Roxas?

"What's going on here?" An irritated voice sounded from somewhere in the crowd. Students parted to let a tall man with shaggy brown hair reach this inner circle. Steel gray eyes glanced from Roxas to Axel and back to Roxas again. The man's hands were tucked into pockets of leather pants that had more belts than Roxas wanted to know.

"P-p-professor Leonhart!" The blonde stuttered, tearing his eyes from Axel with more effort than he thought would be necessary.

"Nothing's wrong Professor. Me and Roxas here were just having a chat." Axel replied smoothly, grabbing Roxas shoulder and pulling him into a one-armed hug. Roxas squeaked when suddenly pushed up against Axel's wiry frame. The Professor raised one eyebrow in disbelief, but he sighed in defeat. He_ hated_ cafeteria duty. Actually, he hated a lot of things. But cafeteria duty was pretty high up on that list.

"Fine. Move Along! Get back to eating already!" The Professor roared, and the students scrambled back to the tables of the cafeteria. Sometimes Roxas believed that Professor Leonhart was a lion in a past life. He resembled one when he got angry, and his shaggy brown hair bristled slightly. The angered teacher was gone within a minute, walking into the doorway of the cafeteria to glare at the students some more.

But for those few moments, the world around Roxas meant nothing.

It was all about Axel.

Axel was _hugging _him. Okay, maybe not hugging, but it was close enough. It was some sort of physical contact. Roxas' brain was attempting to process this, trying to make sure this wasn't a dream. It sure didn't seem like a dream. It didn't feel like one. Roxas could feel the eyes of many glaring holes into the back of his head, burning with hatred, amusement, or just curiosity.

It couldn't be a dream.

But as fast as the moment had come, it was gone. Axel's arm released Roxas from its surprisingly vice-like grip, and the red head patted Roxas lightly on the back in a friendly gesture.

"Seeya later Roxy!" he called, then walked over to a table and sat beside a girl with blonde hair that resembled an antenna. The girl looked quite pissed when Axel sat down, waving her fist at him as he sat down beside her. Roxas wondered if that was the girl that was yelling on the phone.

But at the moment, he didn't care.

Life was great.

Life was awesome.

Life couldn't get any better.

But life has an annoying habit of crashing down around your ears when you're finally happy.

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Lol, I realized I called Roxas a "nobody". NO PUN INTENDED THERE PEOPLE. XD

Reviews are nice, since this is my first cheese-ball-romance-fic. I wouldn't mind some critique.

This is more fun to write than I expected it to be. Look for the next chapter really soon.


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